Education
2025 State of Education Spending in Pennsylvania
Overview The national trends impacting education in Pennsylvania in 2025 include an impending fiscal cliff, under-enrolled schools, and population decline, all of which lead to school closures…
Read More: 2025 State of Education Spending in PennsylvaniaPennsylvania’s future is in the hands of the next generation. Parents and students—not activist agendas—should drive the Commonwealth’s education policy. While policymakers have been entrusted with ensuring the next generation receives a quality education, parents should be empowered to choose the quality education that meets their unique child’s needs. Charter schools and tax credit scholarships are integral pieces of school choice, but more reforms are needed to make school choice a reality for all Pennsylvania students.
Education
Cyber Schools Deserve Fair Treatment
Alyssa Weaver is a poster-child for the benefits of choice in public education. At the age of twelve, Alyssa was diagnosed with a crippling case of scoliosis which, in…
Commentary
Read More: Cyber Schools Deserve Fair TreatmentEducation
Union Dues Backing Political Groups Prompted My Resignation
This perspective on union spending by Pennsylvania public school teacher John Cress originally appeared at Free to Teach, a project of the Commonwealth Foundation. I have been a middle school…
Media
Read More: Union Dues Backing Political Groups Prompted My ResignationEducation
Reform Cybers Without Arbitrary Cuts
How will more than 35,000 cyber school students be affected by legislation pending in the state Senate this week? There’s both good and bad news on the horizon and your…
Media
Read More: Reform Cybers Without Arbitrary CutsEducation
Teacher: Forced Union Dues a “Kick in the Teeth”
This perspective on union spending by Pennsylvania public school teacher Rob Brough originally appeared at Free to Teach, a project of the Commonwealth Foundation. I left my teachers union…
Media
Read More: Teacher: Forced Union Dues a “Kick in the Teeth”Education
False Claims Fuel Charter Attacks
The Education Law Center has issued an attack on legislation to allow universities to approve new charter schools. In a single paragraph, a spokesman for the group makes makes…
Media
Read More: False Claims Fuel Charter AttacksEducation
School Spending Transparency Coming to Pa.?
Pennsylvania earned a “C+” for providing citizens information on how public schools spend money, according to a recent report from the Cato Institute titled “Cracking the…
Media
Read More: School Spending Transparency Coming to Pa.?Education
Dues Deduction For Public Sector Unions Is An Offense To Taxpayers
It was the last straw for teacher Steve Calabro. When the Pennsylvania State Education Association (PSEA) ran advertisements claiming any teacher who didn’t contribute to the union PAC was part…
Commentary
Read More: Dues Deduction For Public Sector Unions Is An Offense To TaxpayersEducation
The Lost Year: How Seniority Harms Teachers and Kids
Rep. Vanessa Brown (D-Phila.) knows what it’s like to lose a good school teacher. For her son, it was nearly a matter of life and death. For years, Brown has…
Media
Read More: The Lost Year: How Seniority Harms Teachers and KidsEducation
Cyber School Centers Embrace Community Values
Cyber schools have been falsely maligned as impersonal and anti-social environments for learning, but the truth is far different. Case in point: Achievement House Cyber Charter School is bringing blended…
Media
Read More: Cyber School Centers Embrace Community ValuesEducation
Podcast: Teachers on Union Exploitation – Part 2
Julie Raab and Keith Williams are speaking out about how union influence affects their teaching jobs. They, and many teachers across the state, are fed up with Pennsylvania’s unfair…
Media
Read More: Podcast: Teachers on Union Exploitation – Part 2Education
Voters Support Education Reform
Pennsylvania parents and voters want education reform. A new poll from StudentsFirst shows that Pennsylvania families strongly support educational reforms, including incentives for high performing teachers (74 percent support),…
Media
Read More: Voters Support Education ReformEducation
Podcast: Teachers on Union Exploitation – Part 1
Julie Raab and Keith Williams are speaking out about how union influence affects their teaching jobs. They, and many teachers across the state, are fed up with Pennsylvania's unfair…
Media
Read More: Podcast: Teachers on Union Exploitation – Part 1Education
Unions’ Taxpayer-Subsidized Politics
How would you feel if you were forced to pay for a political cause that worked against your own beliefs and values? Outraged? Victimized? Just plain angry? Many Pennsylvania teachers,…
Commentary
Read More: Unions’ Taxpayer-Subsidized PoliticsEducation
Saving Pennsylvania’s Best Teachers
This week, Commonwealth Foundation placed billboards in Philadelphia subway stations to highlight the problem of seniority rules in our public schools. Currently, Section 1125…
Media
Read More: Saving Pennsylvania’s Best TeachersEducation
SAT Scores by State 2013
EDITORS NOTE: Click here for the 2014 SAT Scores by state We have compiled each state’s average SAT score into one, easy-access spreadsheet ranking states by their mean…
Media
Read More: SAT Scores by State 2013Education
How is Your Public School Performing?
The Pennsylvania School Performance Profile launched today, but will it deliver the “accountability system” Acting Secretary of Education Carolyn Dumaresq promised in a briefing earlier this month? Created through a…
Media
Read More: How is Your Public School Performing?Education
Pa. Teacher: Union Dues Deduction is “Wage Garnishment”
Did you know school districts and other government agencies collect unions’ dues and political action committee money from payroll, just like a tax? Teachers are speaking out about this…
Media
Read More: Pa. Teacher: Union Dues Deduction is “Wage Garnishment”Education
Union Abuses Force Pennsylvania Teachers to Speak Out
Did you know teachers’ unions can force many teachers in Pennsylvania to pay dues or a “fair share fee” that’s taken directly out of teachers’ paychecks? What’s more, this withholding…
Media
Read More: Union Abuses Force Pennsylvania Teachers to Speak OutEducation
TODAY: Pennsylvania Teachers Protest Union Abuses
For Immediate Release The Commonwealth Foundation Contact: 717-671-1901 Union Abuses Force Pennsylvania Teachers to Speak Out Teacher unions get special treatment; force teachers and taxpayers to…
Press Release
Read More: TODAY: Pennsylvania Teachers Protest Union AbusesEducation
How Unions Use Students as Bargaining Chips
When government unions engage in labor disputes, they use their power and monopoly to remind the public of the value of their service. However, schoolchildren should never have to bear…
Commentary
Read More: How Unions Use Students as Bargaining ChipsEducation
School District Takes Lavish Retreat Amid Budget Crisis
If you’re one of the most violent school districts in Pennsylvania, failing your students, and borrowing to make ends meet, would you spend money on a lavish retreat? If…
Media
Read More: School District Takes Lavish Retreat Amid Budget Crisis